I was shown this cool app recently, it combines a Telegram messenger app with cryptocurrency so you can send money to people just like you would a text message. What I like is in theory it could bypass the big social media companies as the app connects advertisers with users (as much as they want) but must pay for their attention. Kind of brilliant idea I think. You earn coins by inviting friends, it could go crazy viral soon so I bought some of the coins hoping for another 'Bitcoin'. If you download the app post your address and maybe I'll send a few coins so you can test the app.

I know many people think the same about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Personally I'm a believer in them and actually have more faith in them than most fiat currencies and the current banking system that really is a legal ponzi scheme which are being printed into worthlessness. I like Bitcoin because it has has a limited supply. I sometime find it amazing that people think Bitcoin is crazy magic internet money when actually it has certain properties that make it far superior to The dollar bill in your wallet. And also everyday people are using forms of digital currency and most peoples wealth is stored on often hacked computer systems. Bitcoin can't be hacked...

Anyway I'll agree to disagree....This app has crowdfunded and received seed investment of 1 million pounds so its very much a legit product. It won a recent competition for its innovation from Citi Bank.

Just to be clear you don't PAY for anything using this app, so how can it be a Ponzi scheme?

The app pays YOU. They say if you can't see what the product is in a business then YOU'RE the product. So basically any success of the app goes to the people that use it by simply using the app. And advertisers have to give you coins to advertise to you. Its brilliant actually. They recon that if FB shared out advertising revenues to its users then people would get like 100 dollars a year. Stupid people like to say FB is free when actually they are taking your activity and monetising it.

Its still in Beta but it will work like this. You will have the option to allow advertisers to access you via you declared interests. Its not finalised but I read it will be a checklist of interests, sport, finance, movies, etc. So the advertisers can send to you their product info which THEY MUST PAY YOU DIRECTLY for that access in the currency. So there is no actual access to you info at any time. It cuts out the middle man basically. Plus it creates a demand for the currency in a legitimate self sustaining micro economy.

Of course the company can make money, likely small percentage for sending coins and they hold some coins themselves. BUT in comparison to a snapchat or a Twitter they would never be able to make much relatively to those guys. They should get some money anyway, but the point is its a more balanced sharing the success with its users. Some people out their believe in cryptocurrency and the benefits to society, I'm surprised how many people actually build amazing tech for very little personal reward. Why so cynical, I heard you put a lot of time and effort in a camera firmware, does this mean you are a millionaire now? lol

I'm very active in this forum that has more Q&A etc. Crypto is similar to camera forums in many ways, everyone arguing about the latest tech. haha

Be clear this stuff is built by the little guys, kind of like firmware and crowdfunded cameras and movies etc. Sure this kind of wildest attracts some scammers but you also learn to discern for yourself what is good or bad. Its all community projects is what I'm saying.

But seem to have no clue that inequality is based mainly on a corrupt banking system supported by the Federal Reserve and the printing of money. Inflation kills those lower down in the system while asset holders get richer. Bitcoin solves this issue. So you are interested, you just don't understand it yet. For me its like explaining the internet to my grandparents 10 years ago....bloody frustrating.

Of course history is a continual story of one peoples having power over another and inequality. I'm not talking about Utopia, I'm saying you can trace todays major problems including wars directly back to unsound money. I can't convince anyone that the world is run by a banking elite of certain families like the Rothchilds through central banking but the facts are there.

Truth is swings in value are due to its very tiny user base. Ironically though the last year the price has been about as stable as any major currency even with still a small base.

Alternative currencies are not the solution ....as long as the banksters are in power. They're simply a different take on playing the stock/bond market. They'll simply take your accumulated wealth wherever and however they wish, just like the stock market. Or more aggressively if they think you're evading. Even the gold hoarding recommended by alternative economist is easily controlled by the banksters. And using any type of encryption to transfer money simply alerts their attention.

For more effective is local bartering. A private agreement without the exchange of funds is almost impossible to intercede by the banking cartels...banking cartels = all governments and their agents. Governments are simply the cartel in control. Appears thus far only Iceland has escaped their grasp. All other world powers are completely controlled.....usa, russia, china, eu, etc etc.

I kind of thought Russia had kicked out a lot of them? The big change is China is actively seeking to build the Brics bank as an alternative to the Western banks. Its still just another system for another.

I find it kind of maddening that under the nose of the whole world the banks have sucked dry the entire world with
the FED and central banking. Its almost incredible that banks set up and named the Federal Reserve when it is neither Federal or has reserves.

Ok I admit i don't necessarily think Bitcoin will change the world alone, but its potentially a tool. If anything it might just save some peoples asses if their currency dissolves into nothing.

Anyone wanting to really educate themselves on how America works should watch this.

They'll simply take your accumulated wealth wherever and however they wish, just like the stock market.

accumulated wealth is fairly safe, to my knowledge. and accumulated wealth is different from the stock market. the stock market is a form of gambling. and there is evidence to suggest the stock market is rigged, etc... but no one is forcing you to put your money there.

maybe gold and bitcoin are not necessarily safe. i think i recall reading that bitcoin has been banned in thailand? so perhaps other govts will clamp down on bitcoin in the future? I'm no financial expert, just going by scraps of info i come across.

why were (maybe they still are?) swiss bank accounts used and highly regarded? they're untraceable and untouchable, aren't they?

@babypanda - And swiss bank accounts ....safe from governmental access ? You're about a year behind the news. Only large sums of accumulated wealth are safe from extraction, protected by their very size and the power of the owner. The normal person's accumulated wealth is an illusion. They're even confiscating personal wealth off persons and calling it civil forfeiture. And of course the stock market's rigged.....except for those running the high frequency trading schemes ....like the cia...and super rich, who own the cia.

@Babypanda. Well we haven't had the kind of financial collapse that some say is coming in the West before. But The US did confiscate Gold when it decided to. Nationalism in the UK was just asset seizure of a different name. People in Cyprus had their bank accounts raided by the Government to pay off the bank.

You should google the meaning of 'Bail ins' The EU has made it compulsory within the next 12 months or so for all EU countries if they have a banking problem that instead of government bailing out them they must take from their own assets i.e. YOUR BANK ACCOUNTS. Be warned. Greek people aren't lined up outside ATM machines as we speak for nothing.

Personally my Bitcoin is safe, unhackable and doing well in financial uncertain times, plus it is anonomous Gov. don't have to know I have it and I can move to any country on earth with an internet connection and use it. I don't think Greek have those kind of options right now in their 'safe' money. Think outside the box, the air is cleaner.

@suresure123: With regards to protecting your money from the state confiscating it, Bitcoins are as shitty as could be - the public ledger won't allow for anything to be hidden.

In contrast, if you buy some gold, you can hide it physically, and I know several people who saved their money like this even during times (specifically the Third Reich) when the government outlawed private ownership of Gold to grab everything for financing the war.

Thats a myth its very easy to hide your Bitcoin transactions these days and no one would even link an address with you unless you one buy something and you also give a name and address, the ledger just shows a load of addresses sending amounts to each other I would say its not practical to trace anyone and even less to prove they still own those coins. But if you're concerned you can mix your coins, send them to and from an exchange, use a dark wallet, use an anonymous alt coin, etc...or just

'Sorry Officer I used them all on Web Sex and online gambling'

The big advantage as I said is the ability to move around the globe unhindered, in contrast try getting on an airplane with a few bars of Gold. Just for daily life thats awesome let alone in a financial collapse.